


CACW Essay

by Popcorn_121



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: COVID-19 Quarantine, Civil War Team Iron Man, Slight Team Cap bashing, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:16:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25912720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Popcorn_121/pseuds/Popcorn_121
Summary: While stuck at home all day due to Covid-19 my brothers and I decided we were going to spend our time wisely and marathon all of our favorite movies. Over the last week, we watched all of the Marvel movies (in order of course) and I had some questions about how and why certain characters acted and how it would have changed the entire universe if they had responded differently. A lot of people have probably had the same questions or noticed the same things I have or else there would be a whole lot less AU fanfics. But what I haven’t seen is the why. Why did they do this one thing when there was an easier way to go about it. Of course, as we were discussing this my older brother said “They act stupid or without common sense because then there wouldn’t be a plot or even a fun movie to watch. It’s just so Hollywood can make more movies and more money”. And he’s right. In this essay I will...
Comments: 16
Kudos: 36





	CACW Essay

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t know why I wrote this.

While stuck at home all day due to Covid-19 my brothers and I decided we were going to spend our time wisely and marathon all of our favorite movies. Over the last week, we watched all of the Marvel movies (in order of course) and I had some questions about how and why certain characters acted and how it would have changed the entire universe if they had responded differently. A lot of people have probably had the same questions or noticed the same things I have or else there would be a whole lot less AU fanfics. But what I haven’t seen is the why. Why did they do this one thing when there was an easier way to go about it. Of course, as we were discussing this my older brother said “They act stupid or without common sense because then there wouldn’t be a plot or even a fun movie to watch. It’s just so Hollywood can make more movies and more money”. And he’s right.

You are probably wondering which movie/ characters we are talking about and I’ll tell you. Captain America: Civil War and Team Cap. Now before I get into anything, I am basing this entirely on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, not the comics or any other platform. Also, let it be known that I support Team Iron Man. I am not writing this to try and change your minds or opinions and I’d like you to give me the same courtesy in the comments. 

Problem Number One: Communication 

This is going to be brought up many, many times so please bear with me. Almost every character and in every movie has problems communicating with each other. It’s the main plot driver in most of the movies, either lack of communication or withholding information from each other. For a team that has supposedly worked and or lived with each other for years, they tend to ignore or leave out their teammates. The biggest example of this is in Captain America: Winter Soldier. Steve and Natasha trusted a guy (aka Sam) that Steve had just met a few days before over their friends that they had known for two years by now. It takes roughly an hour and a half to fly from New York City to D.C. on a commercial flight, so it wouldn't be unreasonable to think that Tony could come to their aid fairly quickly, especially if he used one of his suits to get there instead of one of his jets. 

The next example of the team’s blatantly lack of communication covers from the time of the end of Winter Soldier, which roughly takes place during the spring of 2014, to the Civil War, which takes place roughly during the summer of 2016. Steve and Natasha never told Tony that Barnes was used to killing the Starks. They had two years to tell Tony the truth about his parents but they never did. One could argue that Steve wanted to find Bucky first and get him the help he needed before telling Tony. If that is the case then it is implied that Steve was using Tony’s money and resources to locate Bucky, as it is clear that at least Sam and Steve were searching for him between the events of Winter Soldier and Age of Ultron. The only reason Zemo’s plan worked was he figured out that Tony didn’t know the truth. 

For a man who has severe trust issues like Tony does, finding out that one of your friends has not only been lying to you but also using you for two years, has to hurt in a way that he’d never trust this person again. Tony had every right to be upset that Steve covered up the truth. And finding out while in the same room as the weapon which killed your mom would make anybody would lash out in some way. Steve was right in only one aspect of his defense, James Barnes did not kill the Starks, he was only the weapon. But that should not have made any difference when it comes down to it. If Steve had just sat down and explained what happened to Barnes to Tony and showed him the files that were released in the SHIELDRA data dump, and given him time to cope with the information Tony probably would have wanted to help. Because if anyone understands what Barnes went through it’s Tony. Tony was held captive for three months in Afghanistan. While there he underwent open-heart surgery without an anesthetic, then was waterboarded with a car battery attached to his chest which might have caused electrocution. Tony used B.A.R.F as a form of therapy to help with traumatic memories, which could help Barnes with not only the triggers but also the gaps in his memory from when he was Bucky. 

Problem Number Two: The Sokovia Accords

The Sokovia Accords is a set of legal documents meant to set boundaries on enhanced individuals who used their abilities to protect the world. The UN had every right to ask the Avengers to consign to international laws and accept accountability for whatever damage they may cause while on foreign soil. The way I have always thought about it is that the Accords were like a job contract. The United Nations presented the Avengers with a contract saying if you want to be an enhanced hero in these one hundred-seventeen countries then you need to sign. If you do not wish to be an active superhero, then please retire. Similar to when you sign an enlistment contract. 

Nick Fury created the Avengers Initiative to be a response team if Earth could not defend itself with normal military force, such as an alien invasion. The Avengers would be overseen by S.H.I.E.L.D. and the World Security Council. While the world is not under a global threat, some members of the Avengers work with the American government, such as when Tony Stark and Colonel Rhodes worked with the US Air Force in the Middle East. Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff are agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and Steve Rogers works under the authority of S.H.I.E.L.D. or at least Nick Fury. However, with the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Avengers were funded by the Maria Stark Foundation, which is a private charitable organization. During this time the Avengers were technically working within the law as they would be under The Good Samaritan laws. This means they could act in someone’s best interest to save them from harm. A real-life example would be if you perform CPR on a person or if you ran into a burning building to save someone. The problem is that they would only be protected by those laws while in America. But because they continued to act internationally they could be seen as a private army, made up of American citizens who acted in their interests around the world. 

The United Nations is not a shadow government that wants to control the Avengers or any other enhanced individual. They were only asking that the Avengers work together with them as they did with S.H.I.E.L.D... While there were some aspects of the accords that went against basic human rights, “Any enhanced individuals who use their powers to break the law (including those who take part in extralegal vigilante activities), or are otherwise deemed to be a threat to the safety of the general public, maybe detained indefinitely without trial.

If an enhanced individual violates the Accords or obstructs the actions of those enforcing the Accords, they may likewise be arrested and detained indefinitely without trial.” the overall consensus was well-intended. Where it seems to have gone wrong was the involvement of Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross. Previous movies had shown us that Secretary Ross does not get along with some of the members of the Avengers. He also had a personal role in the making of two enhanced individuals: Bruce Banner and Emil Blonsky. Ross was the one who presented the accords to the Avengers and tried to guilt-trip them into signing by reminding them of all of the collateral damage that occurred while the team was active. 

To make matters worse after the bombing in Vienna, Ross stated that he’d be willing to kill Captain America to catch the Winter Soldier. Tony then proposed an alternative, that he would bring in Steve, Bucky, and Sam without the kill order, Ross only gave him thirty-six hours. 

Problem Number Three: Team Cap

The members of Team Cap are Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson, Wanda Maximoff, Clint Barton, and Scott Lang. Before the events in the Civil War, the only active Avenger members are Steve, Sam, and Wanda. Clint had retired at the end of Age of Ultron and Scott had only been Ant-Man for a few months before being recruited. 

During the events of the Civil War, Wanda saved Steve from a suicide bomber named Crossbones. To do this she used her powers to throw Crossbones up into the air and tried to contain him within a sphere of her powers. The blast ended up being too strong for her to contain and it exploded next to a nearby building, killing twenty-six people. After the mission, the media put her under scrutiny asking what rights did she have to operate in foreign countries. To protect her Tony had Vision keep her in the Avengers Compound, as she was denied a visa by the United States and was in the country illegally. When Clint shows up at the Compound Wanda is initially reluctant to leave. 

Up until the moment Vision has Clint in a chokehold does she even engage in the “fight” by sending Vision through several layers of the building and its foundations. Later during the fight in Germany Wanda tells Tony that he “locked her in her room”. Being told not to leave your house for a few days and hang out with your sort of boyfriend while your friends try to protect you from being deported, does not seem like a bad idea. We are currently in the middle of a pandemic and are being asked to stay home with our loved ones to protect each other from Covid-19. 

We do not know how Scott was contacted or what was said to him to have him join the team. At this point in the MCU timeline, Scott has only been Ant-man for a few months to a year and is under the authority of Pym Technologies as they own the Ant-man suit and the ‘Pym Particles’ that give the suit its abilities. We learn in Ant-man and the Wasp that Scott did not even tell Hope that he was leaving.”I’m sorry about Germany, They just showed up, they said that it was a matter of national security that Cap needed help”. It sounds as if Clint just showed up at this house after picking up Wanda and told him to gear up cause Cap “needed help”.

Clint Barton retired at the end of Age of Ultron to be with his family. The next time we see him he is breaking into the Avengers Compound and insists that Wanda leave with him “ Cap needs our help, come one”. Once they leave the compound we do not seem them again until they are in Germany and are meeting up with Steve, Sam, and Bucky. After the events of the Civil War Clint and Scott take plea deals, for two years of house arrest then three years for probation, as being in prison was too hard on their families. Clint should not have come out of retirement. The Accords did not affect him as he is not an enhanced individual nor is he an active member of the Avengers. If he didn’t want to make things hard on his family then he shouldn’t have left them after promising to retire. 

Problem number four: Bucharest 

This section is simple Steve disobeyed direct orders and interfered with a joint counter-terrorism team’s mission. Steve is told by Sharon Carter that there is a kill on site order for Barnes. This is a lie. If there was a kill order why would the officers arrest Barnes and the others instead of killing them? This is after they caused thousands if not millions of dollars in property damage as they collapsed a busy bridge in the middle of the day and crashed several cars. With the collapsed bridge people most likely died and yet no one addresses this. Sam, Steve, and Bucky should have been charged with murder and terrorism.

All this tells us the audience is that once again Steven Rogers is willing to disregard any order and ignore the well-being of people when Bucky might be in danger. He does this in the first Captain America movie when he raids a HYDRA base when he finds out that Bucky had been taken, prisoner. He was not a member of the U.S. Army and he goes directly against Colonel Phillips' orders. It is only after the successful return of the 107th regimen that Steve is considered an actual soldier and not a science experiment or showgirl.

Problem number five: Clash of the Avengers

How did Clint, Wanda, and Scott get to Germany? The show up in a van but to my knowledge you can’t drive a van from a California to Germany. Before the battle an announcement is made in the airport for everyone to evacuate, Steve makes the connection that Tony was the one behind it. Steve first goes after a helicopter before being confronted by Team Iron man where Tony tries to talk him down, with the help of Rhodes and Natasha. Sam soon tells Steve that they found where the Avengers quinjet was located. Why did they need the quinjet? What was their original plan to get out of the country? Half of them are fugitives. I won’t go into detail about the fight that ensued, it’s on YouTube and Disney+ if you want to watch it I’ll put a link below. 

My main point in this section is not the fight itself but more of that it shouldn’t have come to a fistfight in an airport for “friends” to be able to talk to each other and share information about the safety of the world. Steve does try to explain that it was Zemo behind everything but he doesn’t explain what is going on and he waits until the last possible second to try and defend himself instead of reaching out as soon as he knows the truth. 

Tony was only given 36 hour to bring Steve and the others in peacefully before a J-SOC team was sent in who might have possible grudges against Steve, Sam, and Bucky, as they were involved in the Bucharest incident, were several members of a Joint counter-terrorism team was injured and may have even died due to their injuries.

Earlier in the movie, Tony even offers Steve a deal that if Steve signs the Accords then they can make sure Barnes gets the help he needs and that everything will go back to normal. It isn’t until Steve hears that Wanda is confined to the compound temporarily that he flips out and refuses. This is before Bucky gets triggered by Zemo and Steve learns about the other winter soldiers.

In conclusion, I believe that the Civil War did not need to happen. Steve Rogers has time and time again shown that he is willing to do whatever it takes to get what he wants. This usually means that he commits several crimes and is stubborn when it comes to following the proper chain of command. He disregarded international law and refused to compromise when it came to the safety of his "family". All of this could have been avoided if he had trusted Tony way back in 2014.

There are probably several other moments or arguments one could make about Captain America Civil War and how it affected the rest of the MCU. However, I didn't want to make this 'essay' even longer than it already is. Should by popular demand write another 'essay' or provide an explanation on my personal beliefs about MCU. I am Team Iron Man, I always have been. I wrote this purely to rant several months back in March.

**Author's Note:**

> https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbB8pJwiehEYsv6vhYKal67Iv8bT_Cjh3


End file.
